Manufacture of armored wire.



H. P. BALL & L. REICHOLD.

MANUFACI'URE 0F ARMORED WIRE.

APPLICATION FILEI) NOV. I, I9I3.

Inventors Henry Ludwig` R,

H. P. BALL L L. RELCHOLD.

MANUFACTURE 0F ARMORED WIRE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. lI 1913.

1 1 8 1 ,723 Patented, May 2, 1916.

3 SHEETSWSHEET 2.

d. i@ b5 MM Then` aqttorneg Witnesses 50 H. P. BALL & L. REICHOLD.

MANUFACTURE 0F ARMORED WIRE.

. APPLICATION FILE!) NOV. l. |91?. 1,181,723.

Patented Muy 2, 1916.

3 SHEETS SHLEY 3 Witnesse5'.

.'35 i 8' Shows UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY PRICE BALL AND LUDWIG REICHOLD, OF ASS'JGNORS T O GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS,

MANUFACTURE or AiiIvIoRED WIRE.-

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2, 1916.

Application filed November 1, l1913. Serial No. 798,788.

To ad 'u1/wm it may concern: l Be It known' that we. Hexnr PRICE BALL, ra citizen of the United States, and LUDwIG REICHOLD. a subject of the Emperor of Germany, residingat Pittsfield, in the county of Berkshire, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Armored `Wire, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention has reference to the manufacture of armored wire for electrical purvposes and has for its object an improvement 1- .fin the method of making the same, in the machine for carrying out the method and "-iu the resulting product.

fj, For a fuller understanding of our inveni1. tion reference may kbe had to the accomi-. panying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine adapted to carry out the method com`4 prised in our invention and embodving the .Structural features of the same; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 3: Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 lof F-ig. 1: Fig. l is a vvertical lon- -gitudinal section showing the details of the 'apparatus for feeding forward the armored conductor; Fig. 5 is a perspective view of "the portioxr of the machine in which the ar.- 30.1nored conductor is formed and made readv for the furnace; Fig. 6 is a plan view of -the mechanism forguiding the central conductor into the insulating material; Fig. 7 is an end elevation of the same;y and Fig. diagrammaticallv the di'erent forms assumed bv the-armored conductor at .the successive steps of its manufacture.

Referring now to the'j'drawings, 1 is a rframe. on which the machine is mounted, comprisingI at the top two I-beams 2 and 3, on which is mounted a bed plate 4 (see Fig. 3.) provided with upwardly extended flanges 4? at its sides. A divided base plate 5 com- '-prising. a stationarv section 5a and a slightly movable section 5* is mounted onthe bed plate 4. A groove 6 is formed in the top of the base plate 5 at the line of division -be- "tween the two sections. .A ribbon 7 of protective material. such as'steel, which is capable of being formed into a sheath. is un- Wound from a drum 8 and passes through a die 9, which forms the ribbon into a U- Shaped trough 73, and, after the trough Vis flumed, it passes a series of devices which l fill the` trough with an insulating material,

and a corresponding series of devices which compactuthe material therein after each filling operation. At an intermediate stage of the filling and compacting operations, a central conductor usuallyy formed of material having a high specific resistance., such as calorite". is laid in the insulating Inaterial. so that the finished conductor comprises a central conductor embedded in the 1nsulating material. The mechanism for performing these operations comprises a series of hoppers 10 suspended b v springs 11 from an angle plate 12 which is secured at its ends to posts 13 supported on the I- beains 2 and 3 and secured to the bed plate 4. Thesehoppers are charged with an)Y suitable iusulating material. such as boron nitrid, which is to be filled into the troughs. Reciprocating carriers 11 corresponding iu number to the hopper-s and located immediatelv beneath the same rest upon the base plate 5. llaclreerrier comprises transversel)v and longitudinali)1 extending vertical plates 15 and V1G respectivelv. forming pockets in which the insulating compound is received. A series of plungers or punches 17. 1S, 19.

90. '21, and .713 .(see Fig. 8) are carried b v a reciprocating member` as hereinafter more fullv described, and are adapted to enter the U-shaped trough 7 and compress the insulating material therein. It will be noted that the lower faces of the successive punches which engage the insulating material are success'ivel)v elevated slightly (see Fig. 8) so as to properlv compact the successive charges of insulating material as thev are filled into the trough from the car riers. One of the intermediate plungers 19 is provided on its lower face with a longitudinallv extending rib 24 which forms a groove 9.5 in the insulating material In this` groove is received a suitable resistance wire 27 which is laid in the insulating material immediatelv after the groove Q5 1s formed therein. This conductor is carried on a reel 28 from which it is nnwound, passing over idlers 29 and downwardly over a guide pulley 30 which leads the conductor to a point opposite the periphery of a guide ypulley 31, the underside of which carries the conductor into the groove 25. The final punch 9.3 is provided with" a"V concave surface for compacting the. 'insulatingmaterial into the same form which the finished conductor is to assume. Afterpassing the punch 2.3, the conductor passes through a die 32 which folds the sheath or ribbon over the insulating material to form an abutting lioint, as shown in Fig. 8. It is obvious that the joint or seam could be closed at this step in the process by welding or by any other convenient nouns. Preferably, however. we complete 'the protective covering by folding over the conductor two other ribbons 33 and 34 which are wound from drums 33a and 34a, respectively. The ribbon 34 passes over an idler 35 and both ribbons pass over idlers 35a from which the ribbons are drawn through a die 36 which folds the two over the sheath 7, the ribbon 34 which forms the outer sheath being preferably made of the same material as the inner sheath, and may conveniently be made of substantially the same thickness, with its joint preferably staggered with reference to that of the inner sheath. The middle sheath is made of a material, such as copper, having a lower fusing pointthan the outer or inner sheath, and this sheath is prefer ably thin relatively to the two other sheaths, so that when the armored conductor subsequently passes through va suitable furnace, the middle sheath welds together the outer and inner she-aths and completely closes their seams. This welding operation is performed by passing the armored conductor through a suitable furnace 37, from which the finished armored conductor Yis wound upon a drum 38.

In order to simplify the description, only so much of the mechanism has been described above as is proximately related to the formation ofthe armored conductor, and the remainder of the operating mechanism will now be described.

The machine is operated by any suitable motor, which I have shown as an electric motor 39. A gear 40, driven by the motor is engaged by a gear wheel 41 mounted on a shaft 42. A gear (not shown in the drawing) on the opposite end of the shaft 42 drives a gear 44 by a chain. The gear 44 is mounted on' a shaft 45. A cam 46, which actuates the feeding mechanism for the armored conductor, is also mounted onthe shaft 45 adjacent the gear 44. The feeding mechanism itself is carried by an arm 47 (see Fig. 4), pivoted at 48, the upper end being drawn toward the cam 46lby a spring 49 at' its ends attached to a stationary bracket 50 and to a lug 47a on the arm 47. respectively. The arm 47 is oscillated by the cam 46 acting through an arm 51. which is pivoted at to the upper end of the arm 47. the outer end of the arm 51 carrying a roller 53 which engages the cam 46'. A clutch 54 of well known form is carried by the arm 47 and engages the armored conductor, and, in moving toward the cam, the clutch moves freely over the armored con ductor and in its movement in the opposite direction grips the conductor and vmovjes the same along through the machine at the rate desired.

The carriers 14 for the insulating material are .actuated from a gear' secured to the opposite end of the shaft 45 from the gear 44. This gear actuates, through intermediate gears 56 and 57, a gear 58 on which is pivoted an arm 59. A second arm 60 se cured on a shaft 61 is pivoted at its outer end to the end of arm 59. A series of arms 62 (see Fig. 3) are secured at their upper ends on the shaft 61 and are pivoted at their lower ends at 63 to arms 64 which are in turn pivoted to the carriers 14. It will thus be seen that the. rotation of the gear 58 will cause an oscillation of the shaft 61 and this will produce a reciprocatory movement of the carriers 14. Longitudinal grooves or openings 65 and 66 are provided in the sec` tions 5a and 5", respectively, of the base plate 5, in which endless screws 67 and 68 suitably journaled in the frame of the machine are received. A third screw 69 is similarly received within a trough 70,which is carried in an opening located between the two sections 5a and 5b of the base plate. The endless screws are actuated by a sprocket chain 72 which passes over a 95 sprocket wheel 71 secured to the shaft 45t` and engages sprocket wheels on the ends of the shafts on which the screws are mounted, as shown in Fig. 5. The carriers 14 empty the excess of insulating material which is not received in the trough into the openings 65 and 66, from which the material is carried forward to a suitable receptacle 73 in the machine, as indicated in Fig. 2. The endless screw 69 similarly carries away any insulating material that finds its way into the trough as it escapes from the trough 7a.

The punches or plungers 17 to 23 which c ompact the insulating material in the trough are mounted on a plate 74 which is in turn secured to a beam 75 suspended by arms 76 and 77. These arms are mounted on eccentrics 78 on the shaft'45, the rotation of the shaft thus producing a vertical reciprocating movement of the beam 75 and of the punches.

In order to cause the insulating material' to flow from the hoppers to the carriers, the hoppers are intermittently shaken by mechanism which will now be described. y

A series of upwardly extending arms 80 are mounted on eccentrics 81 on the shaft 79, the upper ends of the arms passing through openings S2 in an angle plate 12 125 secured on the posts 13, which openings act as guides for the arms.- A bar 84 is bolted (not shown in the drawings), orotherwise secured to the arms SO. A series of pins S5 are carried by the bar 84 and engage posts 86 located on the hoppers 10. A curved strap 87 secured to the bottom of each hopper engages the sha ft 79 to hold the bottom of the hoppers in position over the carriers. The shaft T9 is actuated by a gear 88 which is engaged by a gear 89 engaging a gear 89a located adjacent and mounted on the same shaft as the gear 58. The gear 89 is carried by an arm 90 which moves over a segment 91 so that the gear 89 may be disengaged from the gear 88 and the rotation of shaft 79 stopped at will. The rotation of the shaft 79 produces a vertical reciprocating movement of the arms 80 and the bar 84, which causes the pins 85 to intermittentlyv engage and disengage the posts 86 on thel hoppers, thereby automatically shaking the insulating material from the same into the carriers.

1ny order that the trough containing the insulating material may not become wedged in the groove formed between the two sections of the base plate by the pressure exerted by he plungers or punches. the two sections are separated to a slight extent at the moment that'the armored conductor is fed along through the machine. The one section 5l of the base plate is stationary' and is secured against set screws 92 by bolts 93 passing through the bed plate Je. The section 5b of the base plate is secured to the bed plate by bolts 9-L which permit a slightly lateial movement of the section 5b with respect to the bed plate. This section is moved away from the section 5 by U-shaped leaf springs 95 mounted on the bed plate 1. the inner ends of the springs engaging the outer wall of the opening 66, the springs being biased to move the st -tion 5" out of engagement with the section 5a. The section 5b is moved against the section 5a by a longitiidinally movable bar 96 mounted between the section 5b and one flange 4a of the bed plate, as best shown in Figs. 2 and The plate 96 is inipelled toward the right. as viewed in Fig. 2 by a compression spiing 97. AI

series of guide rollers 98 are mounted on the bar 96 and engage the flange 4a, and a series of similar rollers 99 mounted on the opposite side of the bar 96 engage the inclined surfaces of wedges 100 which are mounted on the section 5b of the base plate: The bar 96 is moved longitudinally against the. action of the spring 97 by a wedge 101 (see Figs. 2 and 5) mounted on the beam 7 5 and passing between a roller 102 mounted on the frame of the machine and a roller 103 mounted on the end of the bar 96. The downward movement of the wedge 101 between the rollers 102 and 103 imparts a longitudinal movement to the bai' 96. causing the rollers 99 to ride along the inclined surfaces of the wedges 100 and thus forcibly move the section 5b of the base plate against the'section 5 and at the time when'the punches or plungers 17 to 23 are exertinga pressureon the insulating material within the trough. As the wei.` c 101 is moved from between the rollers 102 and 10i). the bar 96 is moved in the opposite direction by the spring 9T. thus permitting the sections 5 and 5b of the base plate to be separated through the action ot' the springs 95 at the moment when the feeding mechanism moves the armored conductor along through the machine.

The guide pulleys 30 and 31 for the cen tral conductor are mounted on a bar 10st7 which is in turn mounted in a bracket 105, as best shown in Figs. 6 and 7. A bar or arni 106 is secured to the bar 10t adjacent the bracket '105 by a set screw 107. One cnd of a spring arm 108 is secured to an extension of the arm 106. as shown in Fig. 7, while the outer end of the spring engages a stationary stud 109. A thumb screw 110 passes through an opening in the arm 106 and engages the stud 111. The rollers 30 and 31 are directly carried by a yoke 11'2 secured to the bar 10i. It will be apparent thavt the rollers 30 and 31 may thus be vertical v adjusted by the movement of the thumb screw 110 which produces a rotary movement of the bar 10-l.

Movement is transmitted to the drinn 38 by a belt 114 passing over a' pulley 113 mounted on the shaft with the drum 38. The belt 111 passes over guide rollers 115 and a pulley 116 mounted on the shaft 42 adjacent the gear l1.

The operation of the machine above described is as follows: The ribbon of pro tective material as it is drawn from the drum 8 first passes through the die 9 which forms the same into a U-shaped trough 7, as indicated in Fig. 8. The carriers 14 convey the insulating material to the trough Ta and as soon as the various carriers have deposited their charges of insulating material into the trough. the trough is moved along through the action of the feeding mechanism to bring the various charges beneath the respective punches 17 to Q3 which compact the material in the trough. The plunger` 19, which is provided with the rib forms a groove in the insulating material, and, immediately after the operation of this plunger. the central conductor is led into the trough. After passing the punch Q3, which is usually provided with a concave surface, the sheath 7a is folded over the insulating material by the die 32. Immediately after this operation. the two succeeding ribbons 33 and 31 are folded about the conductor to form the finished conductor. as shown at the right in Fig. S. The feeding mechanism comprising the clutch 5l picks up the armored conductor after it passes through the die 36 and feeds the same along through the machine. thc Nwration of the sections 5aL and 5*' of the base plate taking place at the same time that the feeding mechanism moves the conductor along through the machine. The armored conductor then passes through the furnace 37 which welds the outer and inner sheaths together by the fusion of the central sheath, as indicated above, from which the finished conductor is Wound on the drum 38.

A mechanism embodying the structural features of our invention carries o-n rapidly the manufacture of the armored Wire, and in practice We have found that the armored wire thus made is satisfactory in operation and possesses numerous advantages over sheathed Wire madeby other processes.

In accordance With the provisions of the patent statutes, We have described the principle of operation of our invention, together with the apparatus which We now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof; but We desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, 1s:-

1. The method of making an armored conductor, which consists in forming a ribbon of protective material into a trough, introducing the insulating material into the trough in two or more stages and compacting the same therein, embedding the conductor Within the insulating material by placing it on the insulating material when but a part thereof has been introduced into the trough, `and finally folding the ribbon over the insulating material.

2. The method of making an armored conductor, which consists in forming a ribbon into a trough, partially filling the same with 'an insulating material, placing the conductor on the insulating material, completing the filling of the trough over the conductor With the insulating material and forming the same into the shape desired, and

thn wrapping the ribbon about the insulating material.

3. The method of making an armored conductor, which consists in forming the protective covering into a trough, partially filling the trough with an insulating material and compacting the same therein, placing the conductor on the insulating material, completely filling the trough with the insulating material, forming the top of insulating material into the shape desired, folding the protective covering over the insulating material, and feeding forward the armored conductor.

l. The method of making an yarmored conductor, which consists in forming the protective metallic covering around the insulating material to form abutting joints, then folding a second metallic covering around the first with its seam peripherally removed from the first seam, and welding the two coverings together'.

5. r1`he method of covering an armored conductor with a protective layer, which consists in folding a metallic ribbon about the insulating material, folding about this covering a thin metallic layer having a lower fusing point than the first and another layer with a higher fusing point with its seam staggered with reference to that of the iirst, and finally heating theconductor to fuse the middle layer and weld the outer and inner metallic layers together.

G. As an article of manufacture, an armored conductor composed of a conductor surrounded by insulating material and a protective covering comprising two metallic layers welded together, the seam of one layer being staggered with reference to that of the other.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto set our hands this 29th day of October, 1913.

HENRY PRICE BALL. LUDXVIG REICHOYJD. lVitnesses:

H. B. DAvEnIN, M. J. REYNOLDS. 

